The Voice Inside Sings A Different Song
by wickedwritergirl
Summary: -CS AU- Captain Killian Jones had never met someone quite as stubborn as the young princess standing in front of him with her arms crossed over her chest and her green eyes filled with determination.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello! I'm back with an AU! This will be a Captain Swan fic, possibly Emma centered, set in the Enchanted Forest. I've had this idea for a while and I hope it's not too similar to other AUs out there but I do hope you give it a chance. There's a little bit of info on the changes to canon this story is going to go by, so please read those to understand the AU aspects and the things (most of them) which don't change. I hope you like this, either way, please do let me know! Happy reading! -S**

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 _A little backstory on this fic so no one gets confused:_

 _Killian went to Neverland with Liam, which then, like on the show, lead to Liam's death. Killian became a pirate and spent a century or two in Neverland, but he never met Milah and therefore isn't on a mission to revenge her death; he's just living his devilishly handsome, smug pirate life. And since he never met Milah, he never lost his hand either. I'd like to let him keep the hook, but it doesn't make much sense here. He has lived a few centuries, but physically I'm gonna say he's a little younger than on the show, since Emma is too. He's in his mid 20s or so._

 _Regina never activated the first curse. Her marrying Snow's father, losing Daniel and hating Snow happened, but after trying to harm Snow, she was sentenced to exile where she still is during this fic._

 _Emma was raised by her parents as a princess, so she never went through the traumatic childhood she did on the show, but this doesn't change her personality dramatically in this fic. She's naturally guarded when it comes to the psychological stuff and strong as hell. And because she was never raised in the "Land Without Magic", she never had Henry at age 18. Sorry Henry. Emma, as you will find out, is 19 going on 20 here._

 _Because of what happened with Regina, Snow has always been very protective of Emma and tried to shield her from any danger._

 _David was raised like he was on the show, but because Regina never managed to drive Snow into the bandit lifestyle, Snow never stole from David; they met through other means._

 _This is set in the Enchanted Forest, so magic is very much a thing of which everyone is aware of._

 _I think that's all the important information for now!_

 _Happy reading!_

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Emma ran through the long hallway of the castle. She wasn't sure where she was going, but she needed to go. Her mind was going a mile a minute and there was no space in it to think about where her feet were taking her.

All her life she had been told the story of her parents and the true love they shared. She'd heard it from both of her parents, from her maids and other castle staff, from her seven uncles and from people she barely knew. The love story of Princess Snow White and the common farmer David was a story for the ages. A proof, that true love truly is the strongest of all magic.

Nothing prepared Emma for the news of what her walking fairytale parents expected of her. She had no idea. And she wasn't happy.

Arranged marriage! She could not believe the words coming from her parents' mouth.

"Arranged marriage!" Emma had exclaimed, desperate to have understood her mother wrong.

"It's not exactly an arranged marriage, honey, it's simply something out of our hands." Queen Snow had tried to tell her wild-eyed daughter.

"No, it's out of MY hands! That's like, the definition of arranged marriage!" Emma had said, crossing her arms over her chest, fuming.

"I'm sorry, Emma." Her father had stepped in. "You're expected of this because of a choice I made, years ago, but trust me: I was only trying to do what's best for you and your mother."

Emma had sighed angrily, throwing her hands in the air.

"And how is that exactly?" She demanded.

Snow had placed her hand gently on her husbands shoulder and gave him an encouraging look. David had given her a small nod in return, before sighing deep and turning towards his daughter again.

"20 years ago, when your mother was expecting you... Something horrible happened." He had paused for a moment, trying to figure out a way to share the story and Emma waited impatiently.

"Regina poisoned her. Yet another attempt to ruin your mother's life, the last attempt; she was thankfully caught soon after and sentenced to life in exile. Anyway; your mother was very sick. She was... Dying. We tried everything we could. We had the best doctors and witches in the land try to cure her but with no luck. Eventually, I turned to the unspoken option your mother did not approve of." His voice had gotten quieter, almost like he was ashamed.

"What was it?" Emma had asked.

"Rumpelstiltskin." Was Snow's reply.

"The Dark One?" Emma had gasped. Everyone in the Enchanted Forest knew of the Dark One.

"Yes." David had finally found his voice again. "I was desperate."

Snow had taken his hand into hers in a supportive gesture.

"I found a way to contact Rumpelstiltskin to ask him for help. Turns out, he did have the means of saving your mother and you. But he wouldn't do it without getting something in return." David had explained, ending his sentence in a meaningful silence. Emma wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Okay... What happened?" She had asked.

"Turns out he had recently fathered a son." David had replied.

Emma's eyes widened. "No." She said. David had given her a slow nod, his expression apologetic.

Emma had opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She couldn't find the words.

"I'm sorry, Emma, but I couldn't let your mother and you die." David had almost whispered.

"So," Emma finally spoke up again, "The reason I was born at all... Is because you promised I would marry the dark one's son?" Emma had summarized the information she had just received.

"I guess you could put it that way..." David had replied with an unsatisfied expression.

"When... When am I suppose to marry the Dark One junior?" Emma had questioned, trying to joke in the uncomfortable situation.

Her parents had then shared a look. "Once you turn 20." Snow finally said.

Emma had felt like she couldn't breathe. Her 20th birthday wasn't even 6 months away. She had planned to see the world, finally leaving the walls of the castle. Learn to sword fight, meet new people, sail across the seas, ride a horse in the forest... This could not be happening.

"I-I need to go." She had muttered as she got up and moved towards the door.

"Emma-" Her father began, but her mother stopped him. "Let her go, David."

So, Emma ran.

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 **Let me know what you think and if you want me to continue! -S**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Heya. Here's my excuse for taking so long this time: I started university this month which required me to move halfway across the country sometime before starting universi** **ty and, well, as you can probably imagine, those changes can be hectic. So, sorry. I can't promise consistent updates, but I will try to make time to write as often as possible, I promise.**

 **Anyway, here's the second chapter. I'm sorry for the lack of dialogue, I just felt like I wanted to write out some of Emma's feelings etc before I get to the actual plot.**

 **IMPORTANT ADDITIONAL INFO:**

 **Firstly; I did mention a hook when I first uploaded this chapter and no, Killian should not have one in this AU, that was my bad. I guess I was thinking of ways to describe Killian when Emma first meets him? Who knows. I'm an idiot. Sorry about that. (I miss the hook.)**

 **Secondly; someone asked if Emma had siblings and if in this AU Bae grew up with Rumple and to answer that: no, Emma does not have siblings. And yes, Bae did grow up with Rumple. I'm not sure about Milah yet, obviously she didn't go with Killian like in the show, but I'm not sure she would've stuck around with Rumple even without Killian. However, she's not a essential character in this story.**

 **Hope this cleared some things up.**

 **Please, please do review, it really helps me write.**

 **Happy reading! -S**

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Emma was fuming.

She started off with being mad at her parents. _How_ could they do this to her? After everything they've told her about love and adventure... They just took it all away from her? Even the chance of it! From the moment she was born!

Soon though, she realized her father felt like he had no choice. Emma would do anything in her power to save her parents' lives too, she couldn't totally blame her father. It just caught her off guard.

Then she felt burning hatred for the Dark One. All her life she'd heard stories of his power and the evil he spread, but never had it been this personal. A creature she had never even met, had decided her whole future for her, no questions asked, no going back. For the first time in her life, Emma really felt like hurting another living creature.

She felt anger toward Regina, the Evil Queen, who not only tormented her mother for years, but now, though indirectly, managed to ruin Emma's life as well.

She ended up feeling angry towards the world, the universe, the gods that possibly controlled her land. _Why_ did this have to be her life?

She felt angry. Period.

She'd never taken things for granted. She'd always seen people who did not have the luxuries and privilege she did, so she made sure never to take the quality of her life for granted. She didn't get unnecessarily frustrated or upset when she had to do some of the royal duties she hated but was required to do. She didn't complain when her parents were busy with their commitments. She knew her life was good.

But this she could not find a silver lining in.

She was a stubborn, free-spirited young woman and she could not see a potential positive side of being forced to marry someone she'd never met and accept her role as someone's wife as her title. She refused to.

The Dark One was evil. Who knew what his son was like. Besides, she wanted nothing to do with Rumplestiltskin, son or no son.

Emma noticed that while she had been lost in thought, making her way away from the castle, she had wandered into the harbor. It made sense, it was sort of her place of comfort.

Whenever Emma felt like she needed to calm down, to think or just to have some time alone, she would go into the harbor and watch the ships pulling in, the birds flying by, the sailors at work... The calming sea. The men that got to sail away, towards the unknown, the adventure.

Usually, Emma would wear a cloak of some sort to disguise her identity in case someone did recognize her. She loved talking to her people and hearing their stories, but when she came to the harbor to be by herself, she wanted to go unseen. However, she forgot to do so this time, since she left so hurriedly.

On an impulse, the angry adrenaline still flowing through her body, she decided to walk into the tavern, right next to the docks.

She stepped in and immediately felt the air shift. The inside of the tavern was stuffy and smelled distinctly of alcohol. Surprisingly, she did not dislike it.

She did not even humor the idea of walking up to the counter and trying to get a drink, instead she just took a seat in a booth in the corner of the tavern. She tried to keep her head down, trying not the catch anyone's attention. She really didn't feel like putting on her polite princess face, when she felt so much at once.

Ideally, her new surroundings would distract her from the troubling thoughts of her future, but even though the tavern was filled with colorful and eccentric folk, Emma's thoughts were persistent. All these people must have incredible and complicated stories of love, mayhem, excitement and adventure, all of which she would never experience.

Emma took a deep breath, trying to prevent herself from crying. She'd rather no one saw the princess of Misthaven crying in a local tavern all by herself.

Suddenly a pair of leather pants blocked her view. Emma raised her eyes enough to see the scruffy, rather handsome, owner of said pants. One side of the man's mouth turned up into an annoyingly dashing smirk.

"Mind if I join you, love?" He asked, and gestured towards the empty end of the booth with one hand while holding a drink in the other.

Emma stared at him. The princess of Misthaven should not be letting some stranger chat her up in a tavern. She should not be in a tavern at all. This situation was all kinds of inappropriate. Emma got ready to excuse herself and looked the man in the eye, but she saw... Something. Something that she couldn't name, yet something she felt was incredibly familiar.

 _Oh Emma..._ She could practically hear her mother's voice, trying to get her to make the sensible decision.

But Emma couldn't help herself. She felt the need to change her life and not in the way it was going to, thanks to her parents and Rumplestiltskin. She just wanted to forget the restricting, unfair future she was going to have to endure.

So Emma smiled warmly at the dark stranger.

"I wouldn't mind at all."

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 **I want to read your reviews almost as much as I want a canon CS baby. -S**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: What is this? Another chapter a day after the last one? Madness! But yes, I was in a writing mood and had the time (in the middle of the night), so I typed this out and I wanted to post it asap since the last chapter was kind of a filler one.**

 **Please do leave a review, they mean a lot to me!**

 **Happy reading! -S**

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Tall, Dark and Handsome sat next to Emma in the corner booth, fairly far from the rest of the crowd in the tavern. Emma felt a moment of doubt about her decision to let this man in her space, he could be anybody, a criminal for all she knew, but she didn't have much time to rethink her actions when the man spoke up again.

"So," he said and Emma's head whipped back into his direction, "What brings a lass like you into a place like this?" He asked, seating himself so that he was facing Emma.

Emma snorted. "That's not very original." She replied, realizing it probably made her sound more experienced than she was. She'd just heard things from women around the castle, of course he didn't need to know that.

"Touché." The stranger smiled at her, not at all embarrassed by being called out but rather... Impressed?

"I'm... Hiding." Emma replied truthfully, but she continued before any follow-up questions could be asked. "What brings a man like you to a place like this?"

The stranger laughed. "One could argue that a man like me belongs in a place like this." He replied. Emma only stared at him, challenging him to give her a real answer. She never trusted stereotypes or who people were 'meant to be.' She had learned quite early, much thanks to her parents, that people can surprise you.

"Alright, love. I guess I'm here for a drink. And good company." The man finally said.

"Good thing you got that drink, I'm not sure I'm particularly good company. At least tonight." Emma replied, looking down at the tabletop in front of them.

"And why's that?" The man asked. Emma looked up. "If you don't mind me asking."

Emma hesitated, but since she already went and invited the man in her company, she might as well really talk to him. Go all out.

"Well, today I found out that my future has been planned for me and I can't change it. Even though it isn't what I want." Emma explained.

The man let out a heavy breath. "Yes, that does get one's mood quite down." He said, his voice somehow quieter than before.

"Speaking from experience?" Emma carefully asked.

Something flashed in the stranger's eyes before he cleared his throat and took a sip, emptying his drink. "Aye, something like that."

"I'm sorry." Emma comforted the man. He gave her a small smile before standing up.

"Sounds like you could use a drink." He said.

"Oh no, I shouldn't..." Emma began to respond but the man didn't let her finish.

"It's on me, love. And I promise I'm not trying to get you drunk, I'm just being a gentleman."

Emma couldn't help but smile. "A gentleman, huh?" She teased and as a response he bowed. Emma laughed. "Well, alright." She replied, giving herself the permission to be a little irresponsible tonight. The man smiled back.

"I'm Killian. Jones." The man, Killian, introduced himself.

"Emma." She replied, then realized he was waiting to hear her surname. Shit. She couldn't just say 'Princess Emma.' Feverishly thinking, her mind somehow landed on her favorite story growing up, the Ugly Duckling.

"Swan. Emma Swan."

Killian smiled. "Nice to meet you, Emma Swan. Now, let me fetch us some drinks." He said and then walked towards the counter in the middle of the room. Emma watched him go.

Something about this Killian Jones intrigued her. Even before she learned his name, she felt a connection to him. He was mysterious, yet somehow familiar. What did he mean by knowing what it was like to have his future planned for him, to have to live by others' rules? She felt like she had to learn more about Killian. She wasn't ready to just walk away and walk back into her life as the Princess Misthaven and betrothed of the Dark One's son.

Killian took his seat next to her again and handed her a glass. "There you go, Swan."

Emma felt a blush creeping upon her face at the nickname. Well, what he thought was her surname. Nevertheless, she liked being called Swan.

"What is it?" She asked, taking the glass and examining the liquid in it.

"Only the cure to all problems known to man." Killian replied.

Emma raised her eyebrow.

"Rum." Killian said.

"I somehow doubt that." She replied, smirking.

"Yes, well, we like to believe it is so that we don't have to accept the fact that there is no cure." Killian explained.

"That I do understand." Emma said, finally taking a sip. The bitter liquid burned going down her throat. She made a face which made Killian laugh.

"Not much of a drinker, eh?" He asked.

"Not usually, no." Emma confirmed the obvious.

"So," Killian changed the subject, "What's your story, Emma?" He asked, putting emphasis on her name, as if he was testing how it felt in his mouth.

"My story?" Emma questioned.

"Yes. We all have one. Where we come from, what made us who we are, what we value... What's yours?" He explained.

"Well," Emma started, hesitant on how to continue, since she couldn't tell Killian the whole truth, "I come from a wonderful family. Loving parents. Big house. Lots of responsibility." She explained, her voice taking on a hint of sadness once she got to the responsibilities. "And now... Now I have no choice but to marry someone I don't know. Someone I do not want to marry. So it doesn't matter who I am or what I value. I am to be his wife, and that's that. That's all I get to be." She explained, a feeling of desperation filling her as she spoke. She was still realizing her situation herself.

Killian reached over the table to place his hand on hers. Emma jumped at the contact, not expecting it at all.

"Of course it matters, love. It most definitely matters." He assured her.

"Not to most people, no, it doesn't. I'm just supposed to do what's expected of me, end of story." She whispered sadly.

"Well, it matters to me." Killian said. Emma looked into his eyes and she could tell he was being sincere. She couldn't believe her eyes. This man barely knew her, she had lied to him about her name, yet he cared about her? How did he, a stranger, somehow make her feel better?

"Thank you, Mr. Jones." Emma said.

"Killian." He replied. Emma smiled. She was so used to formalities.

"Killian." She corrected.

She could get used to the feeling of exciting freedom and comfort this place, tonight and Killian provided.

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 **I love reviews as much as Captain Hook loves the Jolly Roger. -S**


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